Plans are well underway for the 8th Annual Conference on Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS) to be held 1-4 November 1998 in Urbana, Illinois, USA, at the Illini Union on the University of Illinois campus. The Conference is being hosted by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the University of Illinois Astronomy Department. Sponsors for the Conference include the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), the University of Illinois Astronomy Department (UIUC), the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and Sun Microsystems. The ADASS Conference provides a forum for scientists and programmers concerned with algorithms, software and software systems employed in the processing of astronomical data.
The ADASS '98 Program Organizing Committee consists of the following members: Rudi Albrecht (ST-ECF/ESO), Dick Crutcher (Illinois), Brian Glendenning (NRAO), F. Rick Harnden - Chair (SAO), Sally Heap (GSFC), George Jacoby (NOAO), Jonathan McDowell (SAO), Glenn Miller (STScI), Jan Noordam (NFRA), Richard Simon (NRAO), Doug Tody (NOAO), and Patrick Wallace (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory). The Local Organizing Committee members include Dick Crutcher (Chair), Melanie Loots, Ray Plante, Harold Ravlin, and Doug Roberts.
The Conference program includes invited talks focused on timely topics chosen for ADASS '98, These special topics for this year's meeting are Advanced Visualization Technologies, Next Generation User Support Tools, Future Trends in Astronomical Computing, Synthesized Supercomputers and Large Scale Computing, Systematization and Use of Astrophysical Atomic Data, Automated SN Detection to Measure the Cosmological Constant Algorithms, Astrostatistics, and Educational and Public Information Activities. The current list of invited speakers includes:
Paul Woodward (U. MN), Advanced Visualization Technologies
Richard Puetter (UCSD), Algorithms: "Pixons"
Ken Mighell (NOAO), Algorithms: Stellar Photometry
Tom Loredo (Cornell), Astrostatistics
Anuradha Koratkar (STScI) and Sandy Grosvenor (GSFC), Next Generation User Support Tools
Andrew Chien (UCSD), Synthesized Super-computers and Large Scale Computing
Nancy Brickhouse (SAO), Systematization and Use of Astrophysical Atomic Data
Larry Smarr (UIUC), The Future of Astronomical Computing
Peter Garnavich (SAO), Cosmological Constant via Automated SN Detection
Roberta Johnson (U. MI), Education/Outreach: "Windows on the Universe"
Contributed oral talks, poster papers, and computer demos are all an important part of any ADASS Conference. Participants should note that the deadline for submitting abstracts for these activities is 23 August 1998. Several Birds-of-a-Feather (BOFs) sessions are also planned—these short, one-hour or so long, sessions are organized by ADASS participants. If you are interested in organizing a BOF please send email to the Conference POC Chair, Rick Harnden (frh@whitman.harvard.edu). The Proceedings of the Conference will be published as part of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series, as were those of previous Conferences.
The Local Organizing Committee has arranged for several tutorials on Sunday, 1 November, prior to the ADASS meeting. There will be a four-hour workshop entitled "An Introduction to Parallel Computing" as well as two 2-hour workshops on "Creating Collaborative Applications with Java and NCSA Habanero" and "3D Visualization with the Java 3D API." See the Web site below for details and registration information. NCSA will also offer tours of their facilities on Sunday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon following the Conference. A reception is planned Sunday evening with a Conference banquet scheduled for Tuesday evening on the 20th floor of the University Inn (great views and great food!).
Details pertaining to registration (early registration deadline is 23 August 1998), hotel reservations (deadline is 1 October 1998), abstracts, travel support, and the ADASS meeting in general are available at the ADASS '98 Web site: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ADASS98/.
Rick Harnden, Program Organizing Committee Chair
Dick Crutcher, Local Organizing Committee Chair